I have a fun story about Carly, pictured above, enjoying a warm Pacific Northwest sun in front of my fabulous and very full bookcase.
This is a little story of how Carly chose us as her new family. The year was 2009. We lived in Edmond, Oklahoma. It was February. It was kind of cold, yet not freezing….that comes later in the story.
My husband had been driving me crazy. He is a musician and an attorney, denies having low blood sugar, but well, if you know someone like that, you know they are not fun to be around when they are hungry, hot, or tired. But I digress…
i worked for Hertz, and Oklahoma City had recently acquired their first professional sports team. The Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team. On Monday night I got home and told my husband I’d won tickets for Wednesday’s game. I was really excited. My husband said he didn’t want to go. I was furious. Because, he never wanted to do anything. So I went out with my friends on Tuesday. I got home late and he had my side of the garage covered in wood and junk. Me: “So, do I have to park outside tonight?”
Him: No. (in a sing-songy voice).
I went in and went to bed.
Wednesday night I went to the game by myself. It was VERY FUN!!! The weather was turning cold. 10 degrees that night.
I got home, went to bed.
Thursday, same.
Friday, drinks with Suzanne and Jeana at Rococo’s. The friends all made plans to get together on Saturday night at my friend, Suzanne’s house.
Saturday mornings I usually went to Jazzercise, but it was cooooooooolllllldddddd!
I went into the kitchen for some coffee (I was writing the second book of my Bloomington Series). My husband was in the kitchen. Here’s the conversation:
Him: Well, there’s been some developments around here.
Me: What? (I was still pissed)
Him: Long drawn out story that made me think he’d found a skunk on the porch.
Me: So…. we have a cat now?
Him: Well, at least until we can adopt it out.
Me: We’re not adopting it out, you saved it’s effing life.
Him: But, Willie (our geriatric dog of sixteen years)
Me: What did you name it?
Him: Well… I had to think of a name that was for a girl or a boy.
Me: tapping my foot.
Him: Jo/Joe
Me. So, we have a little Joey Wheeler?
Him: Well….
Me: We have a cat. When do I get to meet her?
Basically, it boils down to this. He saw a cat hanging around. All the wood and stuff on my side of the garage? He was building a house to put on the back porch. The cat went into the house and he was able to take her to the vet. She had a huge hole in her side that was starting to turn gangrene. We don’t know if she was attacked by another animal or hit by a car or what.
She came home the following Tuesday. The weather had changed from 10 degrees to 66 degrees. Do you know what happens in Oklahoma when the cold hits the warm. That’s right, we had a tornado. I called him from my car and asked him if he’d gotten her. He said yes. He moved the house he built from the back porch to the garage. But she disappeared.
That night it poured down raining, and our house backed to a creek. My husband freaked. It was cute, actually.
We never did find her that night and I started freaking. She needed medication!
I tried staying calm. Told him we would leave a light on and put food out for her.
Nope! She wasn’t interested.
END OF Part 1.
(Sorry about that, I didn’t realize how long this story was… Part 2 will appear in my newsletter…)